Nausea can be tough to deal with. It can interrupt your day, make it hard to focus, and when left unchecked it can even lead to (or be a symptom of) a serious medical condition.
Let’s take a look at how nausea can be prevented, how it can be slowed or stopped once it starts, and how it can be treated once you’re nauseous.
Here are several things you can try to do to prevent nausea:
- Eat several smaller meals through the day, rather than those three big meals.
- Slow down your eating.
- Stay away from foods that are hard to digest.
- Eat cold foods, or foods that are room temperature if you tend to get nauseous from the smell of strong foods.
- After eating, rest for a few minutes with your head elevated.
- Consider drinking between meals rather than with meals.
- Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day.
- Eat less at each sitting.
Once you start to feel nauseous, there may be some things that you can do to prevent it from turning into full-fledged vomiting:
- Take a few sips of a clear, sweet liquid. Non-acidic fruit juices are a good choice, as is non-diet soda.
- Lay down propped up. Activity will often turn that simple nausea into a case of vomiting.
- Drink some ginger tea, which can often help to calm your stomach.
- Try acupressure, or even specially-made acupressure bands that can reduce nausea.
Once you become nauseous and are vomiting, there are some things you may do in order to reduce its impact and lessen your overall suffering and struggle with it:
- Drink clear liquids in small amounts.
- Don’t eat anything else until the vomiting has passed.
- Don’t take oral medications (check with your doctor before stopping any prescription medication, of course).
- If you vomit and have diarrhea, watch for signs of hydration. Choose a rehydrating solution to help keep that from happening.
- If you feel ill in the morning or at night, have a few crackers before getting out of bed. At night, have a snack that’s high in protein.
- Vomiting that comes from various cancer treatments will often be treated with complementary medications.